10.8.10

Alex and Lauren {Herrington on the Bay Wedding}

"I wanna stand out in a crowd for you
A man among men
I wanna make your world better than it's ever been"keith urban - memories of us

Once upon a day, there was a wedding at a bay. Yay!
We started at Lauren's home. I always loved when brides get ready at their house. It's almost like this surreal ghost-town feel. Like everything in the house just stops. Bills are on the counter, tennis shoes are by the door, dishes are in the dishwasher - but it's all frozen in time while a bride prepares for her wedding day.

Lauren, all her sisters and her mom helped her get dressed in their room. How many times have they all (or different arrangements and portions of "they all") come in here and vented about a boy, or dreamed about a wedding, or laughed until they cried? And this day they prepared for Lauren's wedding. I just think it's so special!
Quickly, we scooted over to the ceremony + reception site, Herrington on the Bay, for pictures.
Uuuuum. Yeah.

The day was particulary fair and dry for a summer day in Maryland, but also quite mysteriously cloudy. It was so magical!
We started with the girls buuuut I am going to start with the boys. So hang tight.
This is Alex.
And if you remember from their engagement session, Alex is a patient man.
He and his heart have been waiting 9 years for this day.
As wonderful and joyous as all weddings I shoot are, and all the stories that lead to those weddings, I must say, there is something particularly sweet when the wait has been long. So much anticipation!
ps. If you follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, you might have seen me post "Today I shot one of my fave groomsmen shots EVER." This is it. I was feeling inspired by Inception I think?
Ooooo, dapper.
Ok, back to ze looooovely ladies. It was really fun to shoot these girls because they are all Lauren's family - mom, sisters, sister-in-law and aunt :D And, let me tell you, they are a RIOT! They were crakcing me uuuuup!
I loved watching Lauren as we took these pictures. She was so peacefully happy. She loved her veil and spent most of the picture taking barefoot. Easy-going, natural and beautiful.
It just seemed to fit since today was the day she was going to marry her long-time good friend.
Best friends marrying each other is also so natural. And so beautiful.

(ps. Heeeeey gorgeous!)
I love shooting on beaches, just for the record.
The girls were complete warriors as we all headed - barefooted - to the field. Beach grass and beach rocks in grass or "uh-uh" not friendly. But they went for me :D I love girls like that!
Lauren's family is a cheer-kind of a family. Lots of cheers, hoots-and-hollers and clapping haha It was fun.
"Her capa was de-tated from her head!" (Office reference...anyone? haha)
After pictures, the family joined together for a quick but very meaningful moment of prayer.
Aaaand Lauren and her mom started to lose it.
Then I noticed dad in the background starting to lose it.
It was a very sweet moment as everyone wiped tears and looked into each other's eyes and communicated how so VERY happy they were for Lauren.
And with that, it was time to get married! I love this one of Lauren leaning on her dad's shoulder for the last time carrying his last name.
Finally, after all these years, Alex was at the end of the aisle and Lauren was walking to him. To be his forever.
Again, emotions were running high and it was ridiculosly wonderful!
And the sun peaked out!!!
But only for a few seconds ;) haha
After the vows were said, and rings were placed, the pastor invited both their dads to come up to pray for them. I loved that idea! What a great way to start a marriage.
Theeeen, the kiss.
Their first kiss.

Not as "husband and wife," but their first kiss ever.
Isn't it cute how excited Lauren is?! I feel like Alex was like "Alright, yup, get over here."
I totally respect them though - especially Alex. NINE yearsssss and he finally got to kiss Lauren, his wife.
Their friends were all quite thrilled with the whole thing ;)
Yah yah!
Rah rah!
They did it!
Clouds loomed, but we made our way down to the beach (and Lauren was of course barefoot ;) Girl after my own heart!)
And there were more KISSES!!! :D haha
But also lots of sweet hugs, tender glances and little girly giggles from the bride.
As we were walking to the picture locations, I asked Lauren if she was enjoying herself.
"Very much! It's going so fast though."
I told her that everyone says that, but she has to make sure she stops at different moments to take it all in.
She said "Yeah! That's what everyone told me!"
So right then they stopped.
She looked up and gasped at the view, she looked over at the tent where her guests mingled and music sang, she sunk into the arms of her husband. She paused to just take in the moment.
It was perfect.

And then the sun came back to play for about 55 seconds! But, hey, we'll take what we can get!
I have to say, Lauren's long veil just really made these. I HEART LONG VEILS!
We decided to hustle over to the dock with all the boats, but since Lauren had long-forgotten her shoes, Alex scooped her up and carried her all the way to the boats. On a broken foot. Mmmyeah. Man points!

On the docks they danced and laughed...
... and dipped and spun. They were like little children just goofing around.
I love when couples reach that point in the "shoot" - it's like all the world disappears and they just play together!
Or be rock-star models together. Either way.
Our final photo-stop was the little pier behind the tent.

At this location they became adorably tender. It was quiet, water rippled, birds soared above them.
And they sweetly chatted, and delicately enjoyed the moment.

With a touch of making-out ;)
No words.
After pictures, I raced to grab some reception shots. With the wedding colors being blue + black, and then the stormy, moody clouds, I was in heaven! It looks SO sharp!
Oh so lovely.

I have much more I could say, but I must end somewhere. So we'll close on the first dance.

Lauren and Alex danced to "Making Memories of Us" by Keith Urban, which was a song that played on the radio during their first date. As I watched them, then looked out on all the happy friends and family, I noticed a whole lot of eye-dabbing. Tears were abundant and it was SO moving.
Even Miss - er, Mrs ;) - Lauren had some tears to wipe haha
Alex and Lauren - Congratulations!!!
It was a pleasure to be a part of your day - look what God has done! :D

what a FUN blog!! i love how you blog. so many blogs don't put captions for their weddings and i'm always wondering what's going on! i like to be in the know. :) haha. and the almost 21 post was hysterical!